Hyouri
by The Curious Kills
Summary: In the year 612 CE, a young Japanese apprentice was accused of practicing Morganian sorcery and was exiled from reality by Balthazar Blake. Now, that man has returned to this world in possession of an impossible power, and his agenda is unknown.
1. A Silvery Star

**HYOURI 1**

PROLOGUE: A Silvery Star

"The world already exists upon deceit  
The sun's mane, the footprints never were."

_- "Sekai wa Sude ni Azamuki no Ue ni", Yusa Kouji_

Young Gin didn't have a surname – none of his family was of high enough status to merit one. His parents were simple rice farmers, spending their childhood, youth and adulthood knee-high in the water-soaked rice fields which Gin was working through now. His name was simple, meaning "Silver", and at the sound of it his mind drifted to the thought of a sword blade, such as he'd seen worn by the one samurai he'd ever seen in his life. The eight-year-old child dreamed of one day leaving home to learn the arts of battle and become a samurai, just like that fearsome, handsome warrior who had so confidently rode through Gin's battered little hometown. He could see himself now, clad in crimson and black armor, a grimacing mask across his face, his hair long, sheilded by a leather-and-steel helmet…

"Hoi, Gin," his father's voice interrupted the boy's dreams, "Stop swinging the rake about and actually do some work, will you?"

Gin paused, undaunted though his daydream had just fallen apart in a million shattered pieces. "Hai, oto'osan!" he replied with a broad, cheery smile, "I shall rake for your honor and for mine!"

Kitto laughed softly at his child's foolishness, and then admonished him with a shake of his head. "We have to get this done before the rain comes," he reminded the little boy, gesturing upward at the gathering black rain clouds, "Look."

Gin obediently resumed working without complaint, looking forward instead to cozying up to the indoor fire later on as the spring rains came down. It wasn't more than an hour later when he felt the first drop.

"Eh?" he looked upwards, as did his father, who was loading up the last of the gleaned rice, "Ame (rain)?"

"Hai, so'o desu," his father confirmed, hurrying now to get on the road home, "It looks like we finished just in time. Ikimasho!"

"Hai!" Gin obediently ran to get onto the simple cart as his father urged the oxen forward. The rain came down harder and harder all along, faster and faster, reducing the solid ground to a massive puddle of mud in just under fifteen minutes. A cold wind blew, shifting the drops' direction, and the little one shivered in his home-spun brown shirt and trousers, rubbing his bare feet against one another and sticking them in between the sacks of rice to keep them warm. He looked over and saw his father stubbornly ignoring the cold and wet, instead focusing on keeping the oxen calm and on the move.

Suddenly, with a blinding flash of light that made Gin jump in fright, a lightening bolt struck only ten feet away. The oxen yanked at their bindings, bellowing in fright, and Kitto quickly moved forward to calm them down. Gin heard a shout and saw his father go down. Fearing the worst, Gin screamed his name and got off the cart to hurry and help his father.

"Oto'osan!"

The rain was blinding now, coming down faster and even faster, so thick that Gin could hardly breath. His choppy black hair was plastered to his face now, and his lungs were gasping for a bit of dry air. The water had already risen above his ankles.

"Oto'osan!"

A reassuring call rose faintly over the roaring of the storm and Gin sow a murky shadow coming toward him. Gin ran forward and tripped over his own two feet in the sticky mud, falling into the watery mess. Slippery-wet hands grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him back up, and Gin thought he heard his father say something about getting to higher ground.

"We could climb a tree!" Gin suggested, and heard a definite "iie" of disapproval in his father's voice, which was now trembling from the chilling cold. Gin then trustingly allowed his father to guide him as the water now sloshed about his waist.

Gin reached out with one foot to take a step and felt something abrasive and slimy coil around his legs. A scream of alarm escaped him as he lost his balance to the unknown object and fell into the water. He no longer could feel his father's grasp in his panic to rise to his feet again and escape the mysterious thing which he could feel swaying around now and again. The rain drummed even harder, beating him down and suffocating him more and more. Finally he retrieved his balance, only to find Oto'osan no longer beside him.

Panicked and alone, helpless against Nature's violent force, Gin cried out through the darkness in raw, terrible fear… and created his first ethereal shield.

#$(*%

When he awoke, he heard the voices of a few men, including his father's. He was wet still, but he could breath, and he was getting warmer. The gentle, carressing embrace of both firelight and safety lulled him to sleep again, vaguely wondering what had happened after the shining star had rescued him.

When he awoke the second time, his mind was clearer, his clothes clean and dry, his father watching over him. The story Gin was told was that his father had lost him in the flash flood, but had recovered him as the rain abetted. Kitto, who had survived by holding onto the edge of a nearby roof, had found his son floating on the surface of the water, miraculously still breathing. He'd taken him to the roof again, where he sat and waited until a neighbor of theirs had come by on a raft and taken them to his own house, which was situated on higher ground and hadn't been effected as badly by the rainstorm.

For a few years, Gin forgot about the surrounding star during the flash flood. He grew up a slender but strong young man, athletic and cheerful, a great help in the fields, well liked by both the adults and his peers in the village. At the time, Japan was in an unstable peace, but rarely did the feuds of the rich landowners come to Gin's tiny hometown. The simple village remained surrounded with an idyllic lull, only disturbed by the arguments of young men and the occasional loose animal (most children in this town became quite adept at chicken-chasing by the time they were three years old). Young Gin only was forced to recall the occurrence a few months after his thirteenth birthday, when a strange Chinese traveler entered the village and singled him out. Curious, Gin had begun to observe the stranger as well; it wasn't often that one met a foreign traveller, much less somebody from a country which his was at war with. And he was such an odd, mysterious visitor in many other ways as well...

$#(%

"You wanted to speak to me, Sunroku-san?" Gin asked with a polite bow one summery day. He still had difficulty pronouncing the odd name. Sun Lok was from the nearby kingdom of China, a skilled and knowledgeable traveler who had, for some puzzling reason, paid special attention to Gin since the first time they had met in the village streets. Gin had done then was rebuke little nine-year-old Genji for stealing a small amulet from Sun Lok's bag. What was so special about that?

"Yes," Sun Lok replied, turning to face the dark-haired Japanese. His eyes were a strange yellow-gold color, like a snake's, and every time their gaze touched him Gin felt like a hidden beast was snaking about behind them, studying and scrutinizing him at every move. Sometimes Gin wondered if Sun Lok was a kami, a spirit of nature that had taken up a physical form. He certainly was strange enough… but would a kami have allowed life to continue normally in the village for this long? And did kami come from China, anyway?

After a moment's silence, Gin tried again, placing a hand behind his head uneasily, trying to hide his feelings of discomfort, "Ano… what did you want to speak to me about, Sunroku-san?"

"I hear stories about you," Sun Lok replied, finally beginning to explain his interest as his odd, amber eyes swept over the boy's expression, "I hear that you had a remarkable intuition. You can sense when bad weather is approaching. You always know the perfect place to fish. Plants seem to do better when you are near them."

"Ah… So'o desu ka (Is that so)?" Gin asked with an abashed laugh, running his fingers through his mop of tussled dark hair, "And, ah, why does that seem interesting, Sunroku-san? I'm sure there are people in Chugoku who are just as talented."

"I also have noticed things. You caught that boy carrying a very precious amulet, when it is designed to call only to 'talented' individuals. I have noticed that you can sense something at odds about me. I have also," Sun Lok noted with emphasis, "Heard tell of your miraculous survival in the flood some years ago. These are all the marks of a hidden acumen awarded to only those who have the power to shape their world."

Abashed, Gin bowed again, his eyes darting from side to side. "It's just … something." He shrugged in finality.

Sun Lok seemed amused at Gin's response. "It definitely is something," he furthered, "It is a great something which, when honed and trained to perfection, can lead to even greater knowledge and talent."

"Eh?" was all Gin could think of to say, with a bird-like tilt of his head which, while a subconcious motion, had always caused his friends to laugh when he did so.

"Gin, I can sense in you the power to use magic," Sun Lok informed him bluntly, "The power to become a sorcerer."

"A sorcerer?" Gin's eyes widened in surprise, and he took a step backwards, wondering if this Chugokujin was playing some game with him.

"Yes," Sun Lok replied with a confidence that could only come whe one spoke the truth, "and, if you are willing to leave all of this behind and never return, I will instruct you."

"Eto…" Gin spoke in thought, then, after mulling it over a bit, smiled gamely. Becoming a samurai had become nothing but a childhood fantasy, long forgotten, by the time he looked Sun Lok in the eyes and asked with a cheery, eager grin, "When do I start?"

!($#*

The following were the most exciting years of his life. After leaving his parents and younger siblings with the promise to never forget them, Gin began learning the art of Asiatic sorcery, how to manipulate the elements, to bend the earth and sky to his will, how to heal and how to hurt, and above all how to learn even more.

He first met other sorcerers at the age of fifteen, when the great European scholar Merlin sent one of his students, Veronica Gorloisen, to deliver a message. Gin was awed by the beauty of the foreign girl; her hair was long and dark, silky like a flower petal, her eyes round and centered by pools of emerald green. She had a graceful smile and was very friendly, although she only spoke basic Cantonese. That was fine; Gin still had trouble mastering the language, and often ended up blurting out his thoughts in Japanese before remembering to translate. By the time Veronica had left, she and Gin had agreed to write to each other and practice their Cantonese in this way. Gin felt wonderful, as though he'd met the first eternal friend in his life.

When he and Sun Lok traveled to Europe to meet Merlin, Gin found himself among Merlin's three chosen apprentices, Veronica and her two male peers, Maxim Horvath (a rather arrogant Hungarian who seemed to be always scowling) and Balthazar Blake, a gentle, intelligent type who enjoyed talking with Gin for the purpose of learning Gin's own language. Merlin was approving of the young Japanese boy's skill and commended Sun Lok for taking him under his wing.

Soon after, all contact ceased for some reason between Sun Lok and Merlin. Sun Lok began advancing Gin's education, showing him strange techniques that he said would even intimidate Merlin. A chillingly strange woman came by once or twice, an aged woman with a regal bearing and complexly-styled auburn hair. Gin was always sent out of the house on some errand when she arrived, and Gin began to suspect that something had come to between the student-teacher relationship of his and Sun Lok's.

Three years later, something horrible and unexpected occurred that broke apart everything that Gin had ever lived for and dreamed of, and that broken world could never be the same again.


	2. Friends

**HYOURI 2**

"How are you? No inclination.  
Look, me and you and our relationship."

_- "Sekai wa Sude ni Azamuki no Ue ni", Yusa Kouji_

Becky Barnes sat alone in the corner of a street-side bus station, awaiting the 77. The morning was cold and chilly; she would have been in her car maneuvering through traffic at her own expense in the air conditioned warmth if it hadn't been for a simple fender bender that had it stuck in the garage for at least a few days. Her boyfriend, a sweet but awkward physics student named Dave Stutler, had offered to drive her, but since today was one of those rare vacation days for him, she hadn't had the heart to drag him out of his comfortable apartment just to make him come back to school.

Still… there was a world of better ways she could think of to spend the first hours of daylight than sitting on a hard wooden bench across from an obese sasquatch and two guys who looked like black-clad, humaniform pin cushions. She closed her eyes, leaned against the transparent wall behind her, and moved to draw her iPod from the pocket of her windbreaker.

Just then, an unfamiliar shadow drifted over her and she looked upward to face a tall, slender, Asian gentleman wearing a dark business jacket and attire, his smile so broad yet polite it made his slanted eyes look nearly closed. He looked roughly about forty, although Asiatic people had a tendency to look young for a lot longer than Caucasians, and his hair, which was cut straight and short around his face, was an even, pale gray.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked, gesturing to the space beside her.

Becky smiled; he had an interesting accent, and as he had spoken he had made a slight, almost invisible bow of silent greeting. She nodded. "Sure."

"Thank you," the stranger replied and sat down. The way he spoke, it sounded like "sank you", giving it an understandable yet exotic undercurrent. Becky put away her iPod and smiled back instead.

"You're welcome. Which bus are you waiting for?"

"The seventy-seven," he answered her.

"No kidding!" she remarked in surprise, "That's the bus I'm waiting for too! My name's Rebecca Barnes," she introduced herself, offering a hand to shake.

Accepting, the businessman smiled. "My name is Chimamire Gin. Do'ozo Yuroshiku."

#%(&

Becky came back to her flat that day cheerful and bright-eyed; Mr. Chimamire (he was Japanese) had been a whole world of interesting, and had shown polite interest in her as well, admiring her plans of a college degree and her job as a music radio DJ. He had even offered to lend her a CD of music native to his country, as Becky had expressed how much she loved the subject of it. After changing and putting away her laptop and backpack, Becky set out for her boyfriend's basement laboratory where he practiced his latest new talent – Sorcery.

When she arrived, she found him busy, so she waited a while, silently watching without being noticed.

"I've been trying that spell for hours now, Balthazar," Dave was complaining to his instructor, "Come on, let's move on to something else."

"We've only been at it for one hour, if it's even been that long," Balthazar Blake insisted; he was sitting comfortably in a swivel chair, his fingers steepled contemplatively as he observed and guided his young apprentice in the ways of Merlin, "Try it again. The incantation. Now."

"The incantion would be easier to remember if it made the least bit of sense," the student grumbled as he resumed his training with a hangdog look.

Resigning himself to failure, David stood in the center of the room and closed his eyes to focus his energy. Once done, he raised his hands slightly and began to chant one of the strangest series of words that Becky thought she'd ever heard spoken together:

"Seeping crest of turbidity, arrogant vessel of lunacy. Boil forth and deny, grow numb and flicker, disrupting sleep. Crawling … crawling…

"Queen of Iron…" Blake hinted, his back to David as though his expectations were so extremely low that he didn't feel the need to watch. "Start over."

Giving a groan of annoyance, Dave began again. "Seeping crest of turbidity, arrogant vessel of lunacy, Boil forth and deny, grow numb and flicker, disrupting sleep. Crawling queen of iron, eternally self-destructing doll of mud, unite, repulse. Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness."

Finally, all around a small dummy in front of him grew glowing violet walls, creating a four-sided barrier that Becky doubted anything living could escape from. A series of dark spears then surrounded this tall, angular box and pierced it, causing the barrier to eventually collapse in on itself. The ethereal image vanished, showing the dummy now in shreds upon the floor. Budge, the resident pug dog who had been gnawing a stick beneath the desk, let out a howl of applause, and Becky followed suit by clapping her hands. Dave spun around, his green eyes wide with surprise and his eyebrows shot up comically.

"Becky!" he recognized, "Jesus!"

"Yes to the first, and no to the second," she answered him jokingly, "That's an amazing spell! You did really great!"

"Yeah, but it took forever to memorize the incantation," he told her modestly with a single shrug of dismissal. They exchanged a hug, and Blake turned back around to greet her with a cordial nod.

"How was school?"

"Oh it went great," Becky smiled, suddenly beaming as she remembered her new friend from that morning. "I met somebody on the way there on the bus."

"I'd imagine so," Blake commented wryly, turning back around again, and then spinning once again to face her and Dave. "Those tin boxes are packed with all sorts of general stereotypes. I'd like to see Schrodinger's cat stuck inside one of those and see how he does."

"No, no," Becky smiled, "This guy was actually really nice."

"Guy?" David asked, his eyebrows quirking like they did when he was trying to figure out a difficult equation. The honey-blonde female gave a small laugh and punched him playfully in the arm.

"He's got to be at least forty, you silly goose," Becky told him, then addressed both Dave and Balthazar once again. "But yeah, he's really sweet. He's come from Japan on business, I think, and he rides the 77 too on his way to work. I told him about my radio station and he said that if I liked music so much, he'd let me borrow one of his Japanese CDs to listen to tomorrow."

"Well, that's great!" Dave commented a little enthusiastically. Becky gave him a long-enduring look; sometimes, it seemed that he slipped into jealousy a bit too quickly. Oh well, he'd learn eventually. She didn't feel the need to tell him off quite yet. "Did you catch his name?"

"Yeah," Becky responded, glad he wasn't seriously falling into the possessive-boyfriend pattern, "Chimamire Gin."

Blake, who up until then had been showing little to no interest, raised his head suddenly. "That's an odd name."

"Is it?" Becky asked in surprise. She wasn't sure why; Balthazar Blake had been traveling the world for some centuries or so. He was bound to know a little bit more about the world than your average New-Yorker. Nevertheless, it did tend to be a bit spooky at times to think that this man, whose ragged blond hair and attentive brown eyes would have you believe him to be about fifty, was actually a timeless warlock who had lived thousands of years just to search for the "Prime Merlinean", who, by some stroke of fate, chance, or dumb luck, had ended up being David Stutler, modern-day Physics major.

"Well, I suppose the Kanji could have something to do with it," Blake was pondering, "But in the literal sense, 'Chimamire' actually means 'covered in blood'."

"Seriously?" Dave asked, now becoming genuinely interested.

Becky's eyebrows puckered for a moment. "Well, maybe he's from one of those samurai families or something. Who knows? By the way…" she looked around curiously, "Where's Veronica?"

Veronica Gorloisen was Balthazar's fellow sorcerer and lover who had been locked up in a strange device called a grimhold for almost a thousand years, possessed by the angry, consumptive spirit of Morgan le Fay. Only recently had she been free to become herself again, suddenly released into a world that she did not understand.

"She's grading papers," Blake answered her, nodding toward the upper level as the "devil" herself leaned over the rail and smiled down, her pretty, angular face framed by her loose, dark hair. Becky glanced up and waved to the woman in a friendly manner. Veronica had been keeping to herself here lately – Becky suspected it had something to do with culture-shock – but Becky still tried to be as open and social as possible toward her.

"Hi, Veronica!"

"Hello," the sorceress replied, moving toward the staircase with a swish of her graceful long skirt, "I hear that you had a fine day, Becky."

"I did, thanks," Becky replied, "What about you?"

"My day was pleasant, I thank you," Veronica replied, and Becky was struck once again by the unwavering old-world touch to everything the woman said and did. Balthazar exchanged a meaningful glance with Veronica – just a quick connection of the eyes – and Becky envied that harmony and fine-tuned connection that the couple shared. Sometimes she and Dave seemed as far apart as east and west.

"Did you see Dave's latest spellcasting?" Blake asked her, like a teacher trying to brag about his student without seeming to.

Veronica nodded with a gentle smile. "Yes, indeed."

"What do you think ; should I give him another one to memorize?"

"Just one more for today should do, I think," Veronica replied, encouraging Dave with a maternally proud glance, "Perhaps something less offensive to balance out the destructive spell he just learned."

"Have you got one in mind?" Balthazar questioned.

Again the nod. "I think the Tiger Fang Gate would be appropriate." At Balthazar's inviting gesture, Veronica turned toward David and took it upon herself to teach him the spell. "Now listen closely, David. The incantation is this - Brethren-in-arms withdrawing for the distance of eight sun and standing still…"

As Dave groaned audibly, Becky laughed at his mental agony and picked Budge up of the floor, stroking him as she watched the training of the next great sorcerer.

(#$&#

That evening, Balthazar and Veronica were alone in their shared apartment. A pot of soothing Jasmine tea sat upon the table, the scented steam alone enough to clear Balthazar's thoughts and calm his mind from the events of that day. David had done well, although Balthazar hadn't deigned to tell him as much – it wouldn't be good for the boy to think too much of himself at this stage. It was enough that he knew he was special.

"What are you thinking about, Balthazar?" Veronica asked in the familiar Old English that they had spoken as children. Blake raised his head and smiled at her, loving her as much in that glance as he could have in a thousand nights together.

"Nothing."

"Good," Veronica smiled, and she poured herself and her companion a second cup of unsweetened, untainted hot tea. "You had that face about you that only occurs twice; when you are thinking very hard and when you are about to fall asleep."

"That's a strange kind of look," Balthazar commented with a teasing smirk.

"You're a strange kind of person," Veronica batted right back.

"That does it," he laughed gently, "I'm going to give David another test on the history of Sorcery tomorrow, and I'm going to make you grade that one, too."

Veronica propped her chin on one milky white hand, looking almost frisky. "But I like grading papers you write."

"Even if they've got Dave's handwriting all over them?" he asked her in mock amazement.

"Even," she laughed, and Balthazar leaned back his head, feeling almost whole again, when…

"Gin."

"What?" Veronica asked with some surprise, caught off-guard by her lover's sudden change in topic, "What is Gin?"

"Gin; you remember him, Veronica." Blake sat up again, frowning as he tried to recall why he'd had this sudden… instinctual urge, an unexpected, unsummoned impulse that was telling him about this familiar threat again. "That Japanese guy."

"Sun Lok's apprentice?" Veronica's eyes grew wide with alarm, "Why do you bring this up now?"

"Because I sensed him," Blake tried to explain, "I think. I don't know…"

"Balthazar," Veronica said, now reassured and trying to share that same reassurance with her partner, "Gin is vanished. You sealed him away into a place that no one on this Earth could reach. He is finished in this world."

"Yes… yes, I guess you're right," Blake agreed with some reluctance, and took another sip of tea.


	3. An Unexpected Sound

HYOURI 3

"Oh, this is scary, ah, this is regrettable  
This can't be helped, it's amazing as I expected."

_- "Sekai wa Sude ni Azamuki no Ue ni", Yusa Kouji_

The next morning, Becky received a phone call from the garage manager explaining that they'd discovered a problem with her brakes system, and that her car could potentially require an entire replacement. The price was outrageous, so Becky simply told them to fix the car's rear end first and she could worry about the brakes later on. The manager okayed it and informed her that her little Honda Civic would be ready by tomorrow.

That was why she was at the bus station again the next morning. It was even colder than last time, so she'd gotten on a warmer jacket, a nice, worn, brown leather thing with a faux fur collar. It reminded her of one of those old fly-boy jackets she'd seen in WWI and II black-and-whites, and it was one of her favorite winter gear.

"Konnichiwa!" she greeted the Japanese foreigner when he arrived; she'd learned it last night just for that purpose.

"Ohayo'o gozaimasu, Becky-chan," replied Chimamire with another winning smile and a slight bow, "How did you sleep?"

"Just fine," Becky grinned, "And what about you?"

"I slept well, thank you," he replied and took the same seat he had taken the day before upon meeting her, "And how was school?"

"It was pretty good!" Becky smiled, "We have a test next Wednesday."

"Ah," he nodded, "Is that right? Do your best!"

"I intend to," Becky laughed, "I spent have the night studying…" Catching a glint of holographic rainbows with the corner of her eye, she asked, "Hey, is that the CD?"

"Hai," Chimamire answered in his own language, passing her the music disc with one hand. Come to think of it, Becky had never noticed his hands. How come people didn't notice things like that on a regular basis? Hands, eyes, feet, clothing: they all made a statement about a person, but nobody ever really "saw" them. Mr. Chimamire's hands were cool and pale, smooth and agilely slender as they balanced the disc upon themselves. They didn't look like the hands of a forty- or fifty-year-old man. If Becky had seen them first, she would have thought their owner to be about twenty, if that. Yet Chimamire's face was kind of that way too, once she came to think of it.

Accepting the disc with a tiny bow of thanks that made Chimamire's smile broaden, Becky looked at the list on the back of its holder. The CD's case was nothing but paper and a plastic window, enscribed with a list of numbers and song titles, like so:

1) Fireworks of Winter (冬の花火)

2) Deception Already Exists in the World (世界は既に欺きに存在する)

3) Cherry Blossom Weather (桜日和)

… And so on. She was intrigued by the beautiful markings in parentheses, which she figured to be Japanese. She asked him what each of them sounded like, and learned a little Japanese as she waited for the 77. She learned such words as "Hanabi", or fireworks, "Fuyu", or winter, "Sekai", meaning world, and "Biyori", meaning weather. Chimamire was also kind enough to explain the difference between "Ohayo'o gozaimasu" and "Konnichiwa" before they had to part at the college campus.

Becky breezed through class and, before she knew it, it was 5:00 PM and time to go home. Once arriving there, she slipped the CD into her small player and turned up the volume as she began that paper she was supposed to turn in on Friday, which was about three days away.

^*&%

"Anta wa itsudemo atashi yuki saki wo tsugezu no kiesaru. Do'oshite?" sang a foxy feminine voice to the tune of something akin to a crossbreed of techno and pop as Becky typed away on her computer. Before the American girl knew it, the song had ended and the player had turned to the next track.

The music began quietly enough, and then built slowly, ensnaringly as a patient, coaxing male voice murmured, "Kannin shite ya… nigeru ga kachi ya… Iya ya na sonna… shinpai shiten nen…" Almost hypnotically, the lyrics wove about her mind, soothing it with the gracefulness of an embracing python whispering into her ear. Eventually, strangely, her fingers stopped typing, her mind stopped working, and she found herself mesmerized by the calming lyrical quality of those strange, meaningless words that droned on almost like a chant. She almost thought she heard a familiar name, "Chimamire Gin ya… yoroshuu tanomu wa…" but then the tune changed, almost as though the voice were growing in strength, insisting upon a certain thing that she could not understand and yet sympathized with: "Tatsuke ni kita yo yoku gan batteta ne… Sazokashi kowataro'o mo'o daijo'obu da." These words served to calm what fears or misgivings she might have had before it then settled back into the silent droning music that eventually lulled her to sleep.

In her dream, she thought she saw a young man, looking almost exactly like Mr. Chimamire, only with long black hair tied back loosely on the nape of his neck. He looked upon her with a smile, despite which his voice seemed sad as he asked her, offering his hand, "Shall we play a game?" Becky reached out, brushed the pale fingertips, thought she had caught it before the next song's simple, almost childish harmonics made her realize that she wasn't sleeping, that she was slumping in a kitchen chair for some reason, that her back hurt, and that it was almost 6:00. She sat up slowly, her blue eyes wandering curiously to the CD player for a second before shutting down her laptop and getting up to fix herself a cup of tea. Becky decided that if she was that tired, she needed to get to bed a little earlier and stop staying up so late to study.

On the table, her cellphone suddenly gave a four-note upward trill, alerting her to the arrival of a new text. She moved toward the table to get it, then saw on the phone's window that the name of the sender was Dave Stutler.

For some reason, she decided that it could wait until morning.

#$(&

The next evening, Becky arrived at Dave's basement laboratory, their usual meeting place, feeling a bit draggy and depressed for some reason. She hadn't seen Mr. Chimamire at the bus station, so she hadn't gotten a chance to ask him about the second track on that CD. She so badly wanted a translation! She walked down the metal stars with somewhat less than her usual sporting light, and didn't even glance at Dave as he practiced, instead just flopping in a chair and staring numbly into space.

"Brethren-in-arms withdrawing for the distance of eight suns and standing still; blue bolt, white bolt, black bolt, red bolt; sinking into the ocean together seeking redemption!"

Becky's eyes were unwilling to focus long enough to get a clear picture of the incantation's results, but she applauded just the same, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she knew she should have felt. "That's a great job, Dave," she told him, trying to mask her drowsiness, "That was… really something!"

"Thanks," Dave replied as he always did, not too pompously, but not too modestly, either. He paused then, and looked at her with a frown. "Hey, Becky, are you feeling okay?"

"What?" Becky blinked, then looked upward, focusing for the first time in a while on David's worried face. "Oh yeah! I just had a really weird day, that's all."

"You didn't answer my text last night, so I figure you were studying again?"

"Yeah," Becky replied, "I've got a paper due in a couple of days. What's with that?" For some odd reason she felt annoyed at her boyfriend's intense queries, his harrowing concern for her health. It was private, wasn't it? Why should he be so obsessed with it?

"Nothing's 'with it'," Dave replied, taking a small step back as if stung by her testy retort, "I just wanted to know what your answer was."

"Answer to what?"

"Whether you wanted to go out for coffee tonight," he replied, "I figured that since you didn't have a car, I could come pick you up and take you out for a change." He tried to calm her down with an affectionate smile and resumed a closer position. "But if you're not feeling okay –"

"I'm fine, Dave," Becky snapped – for some reason it felt good to snap at him. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Balthazar and Veronica start at her jabbing tone, which made her feel all the more resentful. She wanted to yell at all three of them, and why not? They'd interfered with her life, turned her boyfriend into some kind of magical fantasy messiah, and Dave had gone along with it. Who the hell were they to interfere with her life like that? Now she had this big damn secret to keep, and it made her FURIOUS!

But wait… this wasn't like her. She wasn't feeling well, and deep down she knew that hurting them was wrong. She had to get out of here, fast.

"I… I can't go with you tonight, Dave," she told the confused young man bluntly, and ran outside as fast as her shaky legs could carry her before she ran into the arms of the same man whose presence she'd missed this morning on her way to school.

"Gin…"

$(#&$

"Why would she do that to him? What's gotten into her lately?" Balthazar interrogated the air, pacing up and down the apartment's tiny kitchen floor, thinking so hard that his brain was starting to hurt. No matter how much he thought about what had happened today, the man always kept going backwards into circles. Veronica sat at the kitchen table, their cooling tea abandoned as she, too, tried to understand.

"This 'cell phone'… it tells the owner when messages come through, yes?" she asked her lover, who was likely to be more knowledgeable about this strange new world than she was.

"Yes, it does," Balthazar answered her distractedly.

"So… " Veronica pondered a moment, "It could not be that she did not hear the message arrive, were she not asleep?"

"Exactly," Balthazar agreed, "And it's unlike her to ignore a text from anybody, much less Dave." He stopped pacing, "And they weren't quarreling the day before yesterday… so whatever happened to make her angry must have happened yesterday." After a moment's silence, he finally resumed pacing with an exclaimed, "Dammit, that doesn't excuse her taking it out on my apprentice!"

"Perhaps, too much sleep…?" Veronica suggested, then stopped suddenly, her eyes widening for a moment, and then returning to normal. "Balthazar… I just felt it too."

Blake stopped, staring at his fellow sorcerer as though she'd gone mad. "What?"

"Gin."

That put a whole new spin on the subject matter. Quickly moving to her side, he looked her in the eye and asked, "Then it's not just me?"

Wordlessly, Veronica rose and moved over to a standing basin of water in the larger portion of the apartment's main room, which was supposed to serve as a living room for normal tenants. She stood before the raised earthenware bowl and extended her hands over the contents' surface.

"Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east," she chanted in a beautiful, low voice, and closing her eyes, she focused on the mental presence she had just sensed.

Understanding what she was doing without having to ask, Balthazar went to the opposite side of the basin, extending his hands over hers and chanting in kind, "Arrive with the wind and depart with the rain."

The scrying spell worked quickly, images flashing of various symbols, letters and numbers indicating longitude and latitude in various foreign tongues, most of them forgotten to Man. When finally a tangible image appeared, the couple lowered their hands and looked.

Wavering there for a second was a silvery-haired Japanese gentleman, pouring tea for some unseen guest in his own flat. Then, eerily, the man raised his head and seemed to look straight out of the pool of water for a moment, straight at them. He smiled and then resumed pouring the tea as the image struggled, then vanished as if a pebble had been dropped into the bowl.

There was a brief time of silence, at the end of which was Blake's silent, cursing, "Damn."


	4. Resolutions

**HYOURI 4**

"Where do you want to go? What will you be?

"Are you simply scared of loving?"

_- Yusa Kouji and Matsutani Kaya, "Fuyu no Hanabi"_

"What is bothering you, Becky-chan? You seemed upset outside."

The soothing sound of warm Jasmine tea being poured into a small, traditional bowl-like cup seemed music to the girl's ears after the terror she'd felt nagging in the back of her mind ever since she'd realized that she must be losing her mind. To top it all off, here was Chimamire Gin, returned just at the moment when she had needed somebody to talk to the most. She smiled softly, her eyes almost retaining a portion of their original shine.

"Me and Dave had a fight – No, I think it's more fair to say that I picked one," Becky began to explain, then trailed off into the uncertainties that plagued her so.

"Oh?" Gin looked up at her, his smiling face unchanging but for a minute raise of his eyebrows. "Has something new developed between you two?"

Becky frowned slightly; it was funny he should put it that way. "I don't know," she replied searchingly, curled up on her host's couch as she waited for her tea to cool down, "It's like… all of a sudden, the way I saw them shifted. It's like the stars suddenly changing on you. You know what they are, why they're there, but for some reason they're just not the same people you knew before."

Chimamire nodded sagely, taking a sip of his still-steaming tea. "I know exactly what you feel."

"You do?" Becky asked him, shifting slightly to get a glimpse of his face, to catch it if it changed in the slightest manner. Her curiosity in him returned, almost unhindered by the fog developing over the rest of her brain. "How?"

Gin looked up at her, and for the first time since she'd met him, his eyes opened completely. She was struck by their beautiful, soulful color, a warm liquid brown that conveyed every feeling within his soul: Nostalgia, sympathy, yearning…

"I had friends once, like you have now," he began, turning away as his face returned an absolute normal, "I trusted them completely, believed in them… I even loved them. Then, one day… they changed their minds." He gestured toward her tea, smoothly changing the subject. "I hope the tea is alright."

"What?" Becky blinked for a second, then nodded quickly and picked the tea cup off the small table sitting between them. "Oh, yes, it's very good," she replied, taking an experimental sip to discover that it really was extremely good. She glanced up at the clock for a second, checking the time, and then turned back and stared at her tea some more.

"Jasmine tea works best if you sit back and breath in the scent first," advised Gin, taking his own advice like a natural, "Then you take a small sip and truly appreciate the flavor. Only then will the tea actually begin to calm you. The rest is only an illusion."

"Oh… is that so?" Becky asked in surprise, and at Chimamire's affirmative nod, the girl did as instructed. She found truth in the man's words yet again. The tea really did work miracles on your mind and body when enjoyed properly.

For the next few minutes, all Becky and Chimamire had to do was just sit there, exchanging small words, sipping tea and relaxing as the young college student began to rebuild her confidence in herself and her feelings… and in the fact that she didn't need David any longer.

$#(&%*$#

Dave Stutler was flabbergasted. What could have caused Becky to do what she did? What had he done to her? Had he said something, done something that he'd thought was harmless, but really hurt her and made her feel the way she did now? And how could he apologize or atone for something he didn't even know he'd done?

Hell, he didn't even know where she was now. He picked up his cell phone from the kitchen table and glanced at it irritably. Nothing showed. He considered calling her, but remembered what Balthazar had told him before he left for Veronica and his own apartment: "It's best to let her calm down before you try to get in touch with her again. Give it about twenty-four hours, and then try talking." He closed his phone, considered throwing it against the wall, maybe performing that "cage of lunacy" spell on it just for kicks, but he thought better of it. Best not to tempt fate, not to mention the insurance company.

Just then, his roommate, Bennet, walked in the door. "What you doing, Dave? You look like some hot chick just bitch-slapped you."

David would have laughed at the coincidence, had it not been so uncannily possible. "She almost did," he sighed gloomily, hooking his phone up to its charger by the microwave, "It's Becky."

"Becky, huh?" Bennet smirked, "That pretty blonde, you mean?"

David nodded silently. The thickly-set black man prattled on as though he were Dr. Phil, only twice as irritating.

"Know what you gotta do?" he said, "You gotta play the field. Don't let one prissy little lady keep you from trying out all the other fish in the sea, you know? You know I'm right. And you know what else…?"

Bennet's voice faded out into the distance as Dave Stutler tuned him out after long years of improving expertise. The young man knew what he had to do already – he had to solve the problem. He had to find "x". But what factors DID he know? Becky was mad. She was peeved that he had asked her certain questions. She hadn't completely lost her temper; she'd been cognizant enough to stop and go outside before her anger had reached its worst.

So many variables, so many questions…

Dave couldn't know this, but there was also so little time…

(#$%&

"I've got to go after him," Balthazar announced, grabbing his long overcoat off its hook by the door, "He's up to something; I can feel it."

"Balthazar, you can't jump in without knowing the situation!" Veronica warned him gently, placing a gentle hand on his arm, "Gin could have improved his knowledge by now. Somehow he was able to get out of your trap, and we both thought that to be impossible! Please, Balthazar… you know what happens when you run into a dangerous situation with a hot head. You've done it before."

Switching deliberately to Modern English, Balthazar donned his coat with a retortive, "If I don't do something now, HE'LL do something later. There's no time."

Righteous annoyance flared in the woman's eyes at his purposeful change of lingo. "Balthazar –!"

"There's no time," he translated into Old English as a parting message as he hurried out the door, slamming it behind him in his haste and urgency. Veronica gave a sigh and looked at the place her lover had just occupied with extreme disapproval. Recalling something that she had learned a long time ago, she muttered with a shake of her head, "_Baka no ottoko_ (Stupid man)…"

$#(%#$(

Just as Becky was partaking of her second cup of tea, her cellphone began buzzing in her jeans pocket. She closed her pretty brown eyes and sighed with annoyance.

"Your friend?" Chimamire asked politely, tipping his head in an adorably bird-like way. Once again, it struck Becky Barnes how young he truly looked, despite his obvious age.

"Yeah, probably," Becky replied, making a resolution not to answer it. Honestly, couldn't Dave leave her alone just for one damn second? Why couldn't she have any time to herself anymore? Was she that much of a possession, an asset to him? Or was he that hopeless, that he couldn't stand being without her for just one simple afternoon? "I'm not going to answer it," she muttered vengefully.

"Oh?" Chimamire asked in a gentle voice, his smile becoming more… more? Becky couldn't tell what it was, but she was certain it hadn't grown in actual width. No, it had something to do with those eyes of his, that were always half-shut in a sort of cool, relaxed manner that gave his personage a sense of unshakable bliss.

"Yup."

"Maybe you should," he suggested softly, "Doubtless he's worried about you. Who knows?" he spoke dismissively, placing one thin, graceful arm over the back of his chair, "Maybe this is an opportunity to resolve your differences."

Becky thought about that for a bit. Resolving differences… Come to think of it, that was exactly was she needed to do. She didn't need to get back into "harmonious couple" status with him just yet. What she really wanted to do was to explain why she was so upset and that she needed some time alone. Surely Dave would understand.

"You're right – excuse me." She quickly got up and moved into the kitchen before flipping open her cellphone and placing it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Becky," Dave sounded relieved. "I wanted to call and see if everything was okay."

"I'm fine, Dave." Her words came out harsher than intended, and she bit her tongue with remorse immediately after she said them.

There was a pause of uneasy silence, and Dave's voice sounded chastened and meek as he asked softly, "Is there anything I did that I can apologize for?"

That was one thing that Becky had not expected the boy to say. Therefore she wasn't sure how to reply. There was some hemming and hawing before she was able to formulate any complete sentences worth saying. "I… I guess I'm just aggravated."

"Aggravated?" Dave echoed ponderously.

"It's just that, ever since you and Balthazar defeated Morgana, all you've been doing is practicing your magic stuff. Every time I come by your basement, Balthazar and Veronica are always there. We never get any time to just talk, like normal people, like normal friends. You're always busy doing something else, and you're never around when I want to talk to somebody about my life, about me… You know?"

Again, another hesitating silence. Then, "I'm sorry. I… I didn't know."

"I'm at … a friend's house right now," Becky finalized, "I just need some time to get my thoughts together, to figure out where I wanna go from this. Can we get in touch, maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Dave sounded relieved, as if the world had broken apart and was now being put back together, piece by tiny piece, "That's great! We can go out for coffee, if you'd like…"

"That's great," Becky's smile was warm and happy again, and she felt like she had done the right thing by being honest about herself and her feelings, "See you."

She hung up and rejoined Chimamire, who had waited patiently during her phone call. "Everything is alright now?" he asked her.

Becky smiled; it was thanks to him that it was. "Yes… thank you."

$(#%*&

Balthazar could sense Gin's location even clearer now, and he followed it like some people followed a GPS signal. His overcoat flapped loosely, left unfastened in his haste, and his eyes remained fixed on the space in front of him. He was ready to fight Gin and force him back into nothingness, no matter what it would take to do so.

Then his cellphone rang. He hated those things, but Dave had insisted that they were a good idea for communicative purposes. Balthazar was certain they were the machination of a Morganian with too much time on his or her hands. Flipping it open, he looked for the "answer" button, but couldalready hear Dave's muffled voice. The ageless sorcerer put the thing tentatively to one ear.

"Dave?"

"Balthazar?" Dave replied; apparently he'd been talking for a while without realizing his instructor wasn't listening. "I was talking about Becky…"

"Becky?" Balthazar echoed curiously, wondering what all this had to do with him. The boy did have his own father he could go to for girlfriend advice, surely…

"Yeah – I figured out what was eating her," David continued rapidly, "Apparently she's been feeling kind of left out, what with all our training –"

"Well, she's just going to have to get over it," Balthazar retorted absently, "You're the Prime Merlinian. It's your duty to learn these things…"

"But Balthazar, I'm serious. Becky's everything to me… " Dave paused, realizing undoubtedly how silly that must sound (Balthazar understood of course; he felt the same way about Veronica, but he wasn't going to waste that story on his apprentice). David recovered and continued, stating bluntly, "I'm taking a week off."

"A week off… off of what?" Balthazar asked, bewildered.

"Off of sorcery," Dave elaborated, "I'm not going to be coming to the lab until at least a week is over. I need to spend more time with Becky; she needs to know that she's more important that a few dusty old spells."

"Dusty?" Balthazar echoed, piqued at this new development, "Old? David Stutler, there are more important things than lazing away and pretending to be normal! Morgana's followers could show up at any time, and what's more, I'm tracking down one of them right now! Now is not the time to be -!"

Then he realized that Dave had already hung up on him before he'd finished his first sentence. With a muttered curse under his breath, Balthazar pressed on and tried to locate Gin. It looked like he'd have to do this by himself after all.


	5. Two Sides of the Same

**HYOURI 5**

"I won't simply draw out my sword  
"That is why I often cannot do anything but smile."

_Yusa Koji, "Hyouri"_

FLASHBACK

A year after he had first arrived and chosen a surname for the first time in his life, Seiunka* Gin was outside in the lush, flourishing herbal garden behind his instructor's mansion in the cheerful yet small city of Fanyang, studying the different senses he was able to pick up from different breeds of plant lifeforms, when he was called inside by "sensei". Obediently, Gin left what he was doing, pushed aside the sliding, paper-paneled door, and entered. Using something he'd discovered on his own quite by accident - a method of location via tracking a person's residual aura, very handy in Hide-and-Find when Gin was a child – the Japanese student easily found his teacher, Sun Lok, in the cool, underground cellar where they practiced their art.

Sun Lok was standing in the center of the room, almost akin to a cold, bronze statue. Around him were the charred remains of the floor, burned into ash several times over upon the summoning of the sorcerer's meditative Circle.

"Ho, sifu*?" Gin asked in Sun Lok's own language. Still unused to the slurring, jaw-numbing effects of Cantonese, Gin often wondered if he was really pronouncing the words correctly, or if Sun Lok had just given up on trying to improve his student's accent. Japanese, you see, is a clear, precise, syllabic tongue with little to no consonantal combinations. In contrast, Cantonese was chock-full of slurs, combinations, and tonal shifts which had never mattered before to the immigrant apprentice.

Sun Lok turned to respond. "Have you finished your plant studies?"

"Hai," Gin replied in affirmation – at least that was one word Japanese and Cantonese had in common. Often, the boy wished Sun Lok hadn't forbidden him to speak Japanese during his time studying here.

Sun Lok gestured to a couple of servants in the corner, and they left the room for a moment. Soon, they returned, a young, dirty-faced girl held prisoner between them. She was thrown onto the floor, and the servants left. Gin, not understanding but concerned for the girl's situation, moved forward to speak to her, only to be stopped by a swift, hashing motion of Sun Lok's left hand.

"But, sifu," Gin protested, "Why is she here? Who is she?"

"She," Sun Lok replied stiffly, "Does not matter. What does matter is the lesson I am about to teach you. Listen well."

The five-pointed, star-like symbol leapt up in burning orange flames once again, almost blocking the girl from sight as its brilliance created unreasonable, illogical shadows everywhere its light should have touched. Gin eyed his master inquisitively.

Suddenly the girl began to moan and writhe on the ground, reminding Gin of an injured dog. Indeed, she was already beginning to foam at the mouth as Sun Lok chanted silently, rapidly under his breath in the midst of the star. Finally, the girl became deranged and, screaming a wild, animal scream, she leapt at Sun Lok.

With a shout of warning, Gin leapt between the victim and his instructor as the flames leapt higher and higher. The heat was almost intoxicating, and it was all Gin could do to keep the possessed creature's claw-like hands off his throat. Sun Lok was no help at all, and merely stood there watching without a motion.

Finally, Gin cried, "Sifu, what is she?"

"She does not matter," Sun Lok repeated his earlier phrase. "She is what the ignorant would call 'possessed'. You must find a way to reverse the spell, or she will kill you. That is all."

Gin threw an uncertain glance at his teacher before he finally tossed the girl off of him using the martial art Sun Lok had taught him and rose to his feet. The girl attacked again, choking on her own saliva, and Gin instinctively struck her down. She fell, whining, and Gin was touched by a wash of regret that he would have to kill her, for he had no idea how to cure this madness.

Hoarse, growling sounds rose from her, and Gin added that to the list of symptoms he had observed in her so far. It occurred to him that he should know what was happening to her, but the knowledge evaded him, taunting, in his mind.

Finally, as the girl lunged madly once more for his throat, clawing and screaming, Gin remembered: This was the illness gotten from mad dogs. He caught her by the wrists, trying to stave her off as he tried to remember the curing incantation. He could think of none.

Suddenly, without warning, the girl burst in to flames and fell to the ground, charred and unidentifiable within seconds. Horrified, Gin backed away, shaking from the rush of the whole experience.

"Nan desu ka!" he demanded, without thinking, in his own language. Sun Lok only eyed him with a brazen, gold stare until Gin amended, "What is this?"

"A lesson."

"Impossible!" Gin snapped, forgetting himself in his rage, "That was a Human girl, with no way of defending herself against me, and something you did put her into a mad… I don't know what the word is in your language, but whatever you did, it was wrong!"

Sun Lok struck him to the floor in a single effort. Gin went flying with the force over it, falling to the charred, ashy floor, tasting a all-too-familiar metallic hint in his mouth.

"Do not forget that you are in my country!" Sun Lok snapped, "You will go by our rules, our customs! You will speak out language and above all, show respect to those who belong here!" The heat ebbed away from his voice, replaced with a serpent-like calm. "That girl is what you Jatbunjan* would call Eta, Untouchable. She was nothing to anybody, and no one will care that she died."

"Her family will care!" Gin protested, taking care this time not to raise his voice.

"Her family," Sun Lok reminded him, "Is also Untouchable. No one of significance will care."

Furious but unable to express the grief and anguish he felt on the girl's behalf and the indignation he felt on his own, Gin simply rose to his feet, taking care to step around the girl's remains as he made his way to the door. He paused and turned, wiping some blood away from his chin.

"May I leave, sifu?"

Sun Lok considered, and then replied, "Yes. Go back to your plants."

"You misunderstood me, Sifu," Gin replied softly, determined to remain as cold and calm as Sun Lok, "I meant to ask if I may leave this entire country and you behind. I want to stop this."

The Cantonese sorcerer's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You made an oath to serve and learn under my guidance."

"This is not guidance; this is murder."

"That is for me to decide," Sun Lok replied stonily, "No, you may not leave. Go study your plants."

RETURN TO THE PRESENT

Chimamire Gin allowed Becky to continue talking, the now cheerful, pleasant prattle of her words rolling over him like water over pebbles as he sipped his tea and released his mind. Everything was proceeding according to plan… including what was about to occur.

"… I just hope everything turns out okay, you know? Dave and I haven't ever fought before and Omigosh, is that the time?" Becky's stream of chatter stopped abruptly as she stared at her cellphone's window. Gin blinked and turned to look at the clock suspended across the room.

It was 11:33 PM.

"I'm so sorry," Becky apologized, getting up off of the sofa with an embarrassed glance, "I shouldn't have stayed so long. Thank you so much for the tea, and for listening, Mr. Chimamire."

"No, that's fine," Gin replied reassuringly, "There is no need to apologize. You needed to talk, and I enjoyed the company. I hope you come again soon."

Blushing, Becky murmured a brief, "Thanks," and hurried to redonn her jacket. Gin watched her prepare to leave, and when she got an arm stuck awkwardly inside a twisted sleeve, the silver-haired fugitive stepped forward gently to lend her a hand. When Becky was completely ready to exit his home, Gin spoke again.

"Please, don't feel so embarrassed. Feel welcome to come at any time and for as long as you like. Also," he added, as though it were an afterthought, "You may call me Gin, if it makes you more comfortable."

Becky blushed once more and glanced down at her sneakers. "Thanks… Gin."

"Travel safely," Gin wished to her, "Good night."

"How do you say that in Japanese?"

"Oyasumi nasai."

"Oyasumi nasai," Becky echoed with a quicksilver smile before opening the door and leaving the premises. The house was once again empty, save the Japanese sorcerer.

With a simple sigh of accomplishment, Gin reentered the living room and began to remove the teapot and cups from the short coffee table. Moving into the small, nearby kitchen, he dumped the remaining tea and began to wash the dishes. He found himself wondering at the delay in the next expected arrival, but his concerns were allayed when a series of rather loud raps sounded from his door. A quiet smile crossing his youthful face, Gin left what he was doing, rolled down his sleeves, and went to answer the door.

"Blake-senpai," Gin recognized the sorcerer, who scowled suspiciously at him, "O-hisashiburi desu, ne?"

"English, Gin," Blake ordered, entering the house as Gin stepped aside courteously, "And I mean the modern kind. What are you doing in New York?"

"What are you doing in New York?" Gin replied, turning the question back on the European visitor.

"How did you escape?" Balthazar persisted, not about to allow Gin to wiggle out of this one.

"Well," Gin paused, thinking for a moment, and then continued, "That's something you probably wouldn't be able to grasp, being a Merlinian."

"So you finally admit to it," Balthazar challenged, "You're a Morganian!"

"I am neither," Gin corrected him, with an almost amused smile, as though the accusation had not insulted him in the slightest, "And yet I am both. It all depends on your perspective, senpai*."

"I'm not here to play word games," Blake retorted stubbornly, "What are you doing here, and how did you escape?"

"Senpai," Gin's voice was no longer care-free or pleasant, "I am not playing word games. When I said I was neither, I meant it."

"You can't be neither, Gin," Balthazar insisted, "And you can't be both. You have to be one or the other, and Sun Lok was a Morganian!"

"Let me ask you a question, senpai," the Asian sorcerer proposed, taking a seat in the living room as Blake followed him, although refusing to sit down with him, "What makes sorcery Morganian or Merlinian? How did it become synonymous with good and evil?

"I have the answer, senpai," Gin told him, his ever-present smile growing broader as he revealed what he'd been working on and perfecting all those years since his exile, "And I would be happy to explain it all in words of one syllable, if you like."

"Try," Blake dared him, unamused.

"Not. One. Thing," Gin declared, and, rising, he moved to the center of the room, where now Balthazar could recognize the imprints of not one, but two distinct circles.

"That's impossible…"

#$(#*

***Seiunka – **(Japanese)** Added Fortune**

***Sifu – **(Cantonese)** Teacher**

***Jatbunjan – **(Cantonese) **Japanese **

***Senpai – **(Japanese) **Upper-class student, an older colleague.**


	6. Explain

**HYOURI 6**

"Not even I can say what's in my heart.  
"Trying to explain it is not very easy for me."

_- Yusa Kouji, "Hyouri"_

Chimamire Gin smiled knowingly as Balthazar stared at the two embedded circles with astonishment and disbelief. Gin had been longing for this moment ever since he had been forced between the ether; the day when he would finally make a Merlinian sit down and listen. Just listen. Ever since that one night, Gin had been constantly "told" what he was, "told" what he had done wrong, and no one had ever paused to think that perhaps they were the ones in the wrong, not him.

FLASHBACK – The Second Goguryeo-Sui War

It was night time, the stars sharply studding the blackened night sky like chilling, hard diamonds. Gin, his dark, black hair fluttering feebly in the cool, shifting breeze, followed his master obediently as they walked toward a small clearing in a forest outside of Luoyang, a large city on the Central Plain of China. Just hours ago in the neighboring kingdom of Goguryeo, in Korea, the Sui Emporor Yangdi had attempted to cross the wide, shallow Salsu river, only to be tricked into a deadly flood as General Eulji Mundeok released a dam, drowning thousands of Sui warriors. In later years, this bloody, tragic defeat would come to be known as the Battle of Salsu, or as one of the most lethal "Classical Formation" battles in history.

The mastermind and manipulator behind it all was Sun Lok. Even Gin himself had no real idea of how the Cantonese magician had accomplished this, but there were his cayotic fingerprints all across it. Just thinking about the blood that had spilled because of this man's actions made the night seem colder, as though the deaths had somehow stolen some of the Earth's warmth and pulled it down with them into the Underworld.

Tonight, however, there was business outside the mayhem of the Sui Dynasty's war to attend to. Waiting for them in the clearing were three European sorcerers, apprentices of Merlin himself. Gin was familiar with the one in the center of the clearing, her long, beautiful black hair and dancing green eyes unforgettable to someone who had never seen another one like her. Her name was Veronica Gorloisen, and Gin knew her best of all the apprentices. It was she who had helped him adjust to European life and language, she who had encouraged him to study harder despite the language barrier of Cantonese, Japanese and Latin. She had been the one whom he felt most comfortable with when he hadn't had any friends, save the ones he had left behind in Japan.

Standing to her right was a dark-featured, sullen individual, his darting black eyes and trimmed beard easily recognizable, even though Gin had only been in his presence for a few weeks. This was Maxim Horvath, a well-off Hungarian student who had, for some reason, taken an immediate dislike to Gin, despite the boy's best efforts to seem friendly.

To Veronica's left stood the silent, thoughtful image of another, light-haired man, Balthazar of Blake. He had never spoken much to Gin either during his stay in Europe, but it had been obvious that, in contrast to Horvath, Balthazar's distance was caused by nothing personal. Balthazar was a very cerebral person, and had been the last of the apprentices to be selected. He and Gin had about the same amount of experience with sorcery, and during Gin's visit, Balthazar had been too busy with his studies to really talk to anybody. However, Gin had sensed an almost visible connection between Veronica and Balthazar, and suspected that the two were in love.

"Nei-hou," Sun Lok greeted them unfairly in his own language. Cantonese was a less common dialect, and Veronica was the only one of the three who had any comprehension of the language itself. The others only spoke little bits and phrases of it, although Gin wasn't so sure about Balthazar. That man seemed to understand everything too quickly, and even now he didn't look too put out.

As though to confirm Gin's suspicion, Balthazar nodded curtly. "Nei-hou," he replied, with barely an accent, "Jing-man, m-goi."

Sun Lok barely batted an eye, but Gin knew his master. Sun Lok was annoyed that Balthazar wouldn't let him have his way. "Sik-ting-zyun-bin," the man replied with an indifferent turn of his head. A smile flickered across Veronica's face, and as they exchanged a glance, Gin mirrored the action.

Surprisingly, Balthazar gave a cheely smile at Sun Lok's remark. "Zeze," he thanked him.

Sun Lok's golden eyes narrowed in definite irritation. "You why here?" he demanded. His accent was not very good, and his vocabulary was scanty. His grammar was atrocious. Gin had to admire the way Balthazar had smoothly turned the tables in his favor.

"We are here," Balthazar answered with careful precision, so there could be no misunderstanding, "to deliver a message from Merlin."

"What," Sun Lok inquired with a single, clipped word.

"Merlin knows what you are up to," Veronica stepped in, "He wants you to stop An Loushan's rebellion."

"Bou-lyun," Balthazar translated the unfamiliar word, then clarified, "Make it stop."

Sun Lok gave a sigh of annoyance, but kept his nobleman's poise. "No I start the rebellion," he insisted, "Then no I stop it."

"You must," Balthazar insisted, "Or we will stop it for you."

A frown flickered across Gin's face, and Veronica noticed the action. Her deep, beautiful eyes turned toward his. "Gin," she spoke to him, and the young Asian tilted his head inquisitively in response. Sun Lok's eyes narrowed, darting from his apprentice to the young Merlinian. Quickly, Veronica mustered up a message in what little Japanese she knew.

"Sun Roku wa tadashii de– "

"Bat-jiu- gan- taa- jat- bun- gin- sik!" Sun Lok suddenly barked, startling them all. A strange, malevolent anger flooded the man's features as he took a battle stance and the three messengers did the same. Gin was stunned, but mirrored his master's actions.

Balthazar's blue eyes darted from one to the other, scowling with even stronger suspicion than before. "So you are a traitor." It was not a question, and Gin glanced at Sun Lok warily. What should he do?

A fiery bolt charged toward Veronica, thrown from Sun Lok's decorated palms, settled the matter for good. Gin let out a shout of surprise, which was obscured by the commotion that followed. Horvath and Balthazar immediately leapt to Veronica's defense, blue lightning flashing from the latter's hands, while Horvath focused his attentions on the Japanese apprentice. Gin quickly used a few defensive techniques to redirect the darkly lit images that charged toward him, and then leapt for a higher ground atop a tree, using a faster-than-light acceleration technique he'd discovered recently called Shunpo.

Sun Lok had no difficulty in stopping the European sorcerers' attacks, and even sent a few of his own their way. Finally, however, Veronica and Balthazar's combined forces began to match Sun Lok's capabilities, and with a dry, scornful retort in Cantonese, Sun Lok disappeared.

Gin, his hands shaking with uncertainty, came down from the tree with apprehension in his eyes. The moment he moved, all three representatives turned toward him, preparing to attack if they had to. Quickly, Gin bowed to show that he bore them no ill will.

"Please," he said quickly in what English he knew, "Please understand. I did not know –"

Horvath's brow furrowed, making him look even more dangerous and forbidding than he already did. With a quick movement, he sent a plasma bolt flying toward Gin, who reflexively used a defensive spell he'd learned from Sun Lok. Veronica gave a small cry of shock, and Balthazar even looked surprised at such a blatant use of Morganian Magic. Horvath, however, was unphased.

"He's a Morganian!" the Hungarian announced, "Look at that!"

Gin looked from one to another of the unfriendly faces, and knew he had to run. Releasing the spell, the young boy disappeared as he fled the scene faster than light speed.

RETURN

"You remember the night I first ran, ne?" Gin prompted, standing in the center of his living room. Beneath his stocking feet, embossed in the buff-colored carpet, lay the twin symbols of sorcery, combined together in a disturbing, heretical icon of what that young, frightened apprentice two thousand years ago had turned into.

"You had no proof," he continued, the smile that had so entranced Becky now vanished in a stern, unkind expression of one reliving the pain and hurt of years past, "There was no evidence that I served Le Fay-sama."

"We didn't need any proof," Balthazar Blake insisted, his eyes now risen from the mutated imprint to glare in Chimamire's direction, "Sun Lok was a Morganian, and you were his apprentice. There was no way you could not have been a Morganian."

"What do you know?" Gin demanded sharply. His voice did not rise in volume or pitch, but something in the way he spoke indicated the immense fury that had been contained for so many years. "What do you truly know? You have no idea what I was taught. Sun Lok-sensei taught me Merlinian magic as well as Morganian, so I could pass Merlin-sama's assessment. I never learned the difference until that night, when you recognized my spells as Morganian and accused me.

"Even after that, you never listened. You never questioned your assumptions, no matter how many times I tried to explain the truth. Ironically," Gin paused for a moment, and his old smile flickered across his bronze features for a few moments, "It was this that caused me to question your philosophy."

"You can't be both a Morganian and a Merlinian, Gin," Balthazar insisted, holding fast to what he had been taught, "Even your own people had a similar belief. Yin and Yang, two sides that touch but cannot blend."

"You misunderstand," Gin immediately corrected. He had been raised with the Shintou religion, and yet Sun Lok had seen to it that he had learned the Tao and Bhuddist philosophies, although the Morganian had not truly practiced either. "Yin and Yang is a symbol of unity. Two sides of the same, combined and together. Have you never wondered why there are points of the opposing color in each? The two sides work together in harmony, and you cannot have one without the other."

"That may be," Balthazar responded, steadfast and refusing to swallow the idea that there could be a middle ground, "but that doesn't mean that you can combine the two methods of sorcery. Morgana believed that sorcerers were above the ordinary Human race, while Merlin believed that we should coexist. Morganians do nothing but destroy, Gin! You know this!" After so many years of battle and hardship, Balthazar had seen this for himself. He would not, could not accept that he and his sworn enemies were one and the same.

Gin turned his back to Balthazar, a surprisingly confident move for one who had been forced to run for most of his life.

"I must admit my disappointment, senpai." The other man's voice had changed. No longer was it angry, passionate, cold, or anything similar. If anything, Gin sounded resigned, perhaps burdened with a sort of fatigue.

"You should have known that your actions would be unacceptable," Balthazar admonished, "There's no way we can accept them. Give up Morganian sorcery, and we'll talk."

"I can't."

"Then you are my enemy."

$#($

**Nei-hou: **(Cantonese)** Formal Hello**

**King-man, m-goi: **(Cantonese)** English, please.**

**Sik-ting-zyun-bin: **(Cantonese)** Have it your way.**

**Sun Roku wa tadashii desu ka: **(Japanese)** Is Sun Lok truthful?**

**Bat-jiu****-**** gan- taa- jat****-**** bun****-**** gin****-**** sik: **(Cantonese)**Don't lower yourself to their level.**


	7. A Threat

**HYOURI 7**

"Are those orders really what's right?

"Who decides what's right and wrong?"

- Tsuchiya Yuichi, "Shinjutsu no Yukue"

Gin's smile as he turned to face his counterpart was eerily out of context with the situation. "Ah, this is what I had expected," he informed the English-born man, "Well, let us finish this conversation, shall we?"

A plasma bolt began to crackle into being inside the palm of Balthazar's left hand. "Why not?"

Still smiling, Gin closed his coral-brown eyes and assumed an aggressive Kung Fu posture. He had not forgotten the lessons, however twisted, he had learned from his former master. His eyes, though closed, seemed to be able to detect every movement, every change of light as Balthazar used both hands to kindle the bolt to a lethal strength.

"Gin! Balthazar! Stop!"

The woman's voice, so dear and familiar to them both, came from the doorless entrance of the livingroom. The two men froze, unwilling to be the first to let their guard down. Finally, Veronica made the decision for them – she strode fearlessly between them and glanced resolutely at each of them. She did not see the embossment on the carpet floor.

"Gin," she said calmly, "You first."

Gin made no reaction for a moment, but then finally relaxed his position to one of the Aikido defense styles. Veronica nodded her approval, then turned to Balthazar.

"Balthazar, please."

The Merlinian's blue eyes glanced uncomfortably between the other two – Gin, whose smile remained chilly and unchanging, Veronica, whose beautiful green eyes bore a sense of finality and purpose. Hesitantly, unhappily, Balthazar allowed the static matter in his hands to dissolve into the ether from whence it came. "Veronica," he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Gin myself," Veronica replied simply, "I have some questions to ask him before I can allow you to blow him to bits with a happy conscience."

Gin's eyes opened curiously. "Honto ni?" he asked in mild surprise. It had been some time before anybody had admitted that they really weren't sure of his guilt, and after Veronica had tricked him into letting his guard down before, she was the last person he had expected to say such a thing.

FLASHBACK – 739 CE

Seiunka Gin – no, that couldn't be right, anymore… his luck was rapidly decreasing into a mess of blood and confusion. Chimamire, that would be his new surname. Bloody Silver, like a sword despised for only performing the task for which it had been created. He recalled, to his surprise, the ronin who had once visited the village, just a month before Sun Lok had arrived and changed his life so completely. While his parents and most other villagers were afraid of ronin, travelling swordsman or wannabes without employment, Gin had found himself drawn to the lone, battered wanderer like a moth to a flame.

He seemed to be attracted to those sorts of people, unique enigmas, who had the capability and power to do things that he could not. People like Sun Lok, Merlin, Veronica…

'And that seems to have been my undoing', he thought sadly to himself as he perched atop a rafter inside a small, abandoned church in what would eventually be known as Northern France. He was waiting for Veronica, for he had sent her a message in the form of a short Japanese poem, like they did in the higher classes of his home country.

It roughly translated: "The silver moon will rise alone above the rafters of a holy sky to meet the starry night."

Gin, of course, could not vouch for his own poetic capabilities, but at least this was a way of sending a message without ringing clear as a garden windchime about his purpose. After all, he didn't want Balthazar or that traitor, Horvath, to find him. Veronica would understand. She would listen. He was certain of it.

Sure enough, there was the sound of her feet alone on the dusty floor. "Gin?" she called out softly, uncertainly. "Gin wa koko de desu ka?"

Releived, yet resolutely unoptomistic, Gin replied, "Hai, hora," and leapt down from the rafters, which were suspended nine feet from the ground. Focusing his ki on his feet helped to disperse the sudden jolt that would ordinarily cause pain and even broken bones. Veronica blinked in momentary surprise, but quickly recovered.

"Gin," she said quietly, curiosity mingling with hope in her eyes, "Why did you call me out tonight? Why are you doing this?"

"By 'this', what do you mean?" Gin asked her inquisitively. Veronica was struck by how little he had changed in the years they had spent chasing him. Now a grown man of twenty-nine years, Gin's dark hair had grown long and was pulled back into a trailing ponytail, somehow unfeminine despite its grace and beauty. His body was no longer that of a child either – his hands were strong yet smooth and graceful, his chest and arms well-toned for those deadly yet eloquent styles of fighting which both China and Japan prized above all others. His eyes were the only things that hadn't changed, still those of a lonely, frightened little boy.

"Everything you've done," Veronica replied solemnly, "Your running, aversions, even attacks…"

"Horvath attacked me first," Gin blurted without ceremony.

"What?" Veronica looked surprised for a moment, then sighed, "I should have known. He's got such pride in himself…"

"That is not his only problem," Gin informed her, suddenly deciding to tell her everything in one fell swoop. Veronica looked surprised, but Gin continued, his words flowing like a river released from a broken dam, "Horvath is a Morganian. He is a traitor, and you must stop him. Merlin-sama is in danger. I heard that they are planning to attack his castle on the first day of the first month."

Veronica shook her head, disbelieving him. "No one can attack Merlin. He's safe. And I've known Horvath for years; he couldn't possibly be a traitor."

"But he is!" Gin insisted. He had no proof but what he had overheard from Sun Lok and Le Fey's usual meetings, and for this reason he had hesitated for several years before telling her and her comrades. He knew that if Horvath discovered what he knew, the Hungarian sorcerer would stop at nothing to destroy that knowledge before it reached Merlin and destroyed his usefulness to Le Fey.

"Not another word, Gin," Veronica warned him, "If you have brought me here only to tell me lies about my fellow sorcerers –"

"But they're not…!" Gin started to protest, but he finally gave up. There was nothing he could say that would convince her, no proof that he could offer her. "Sumenai," he murmured in disappointed apology, his eyes dropping to the ground in a nod of humility.

There was an awkward silence, and then it was broken by a small "Gin?"

The Japanese man looked upward. "Nani?"

"Balthazar's outside."

A cold, angry chill passed over Gin's heart. Betrayed! How could she do this to him! He had trusted her, hoped in her, believed that she, of all people, would not believe the lies that Horvath had fed the Merlinian sorcerers… On his face, his disappointment and hurt clearly showed, his faith in her falling from his heart and mind like a calving iceberg.

Veronica felt a pang of guilt as she saw the last shards of hope disingtegrate from the foreigner's umber-hued eyes. If it hadn't been for what he had tried to say about Horvath, she would have felt worse. She was loyal, though; no matter how uneasy Horvath made her feel, she could never turn her back on her fellow.

Balthazar then stepped into the church. His sillouhette, backed by the moon Gin had compared himself to in his message to Veronica, seemed taller, forbidding as his blue eyes rested on the Asian sorcerer with tragic purpose. "I'll handle it from here, Veronica," he told the woman. Veronica hesitated, looking once back at Gin before vanishing through the doorframe.

Gin's eyes closed swiftly as he prepared to do battle with Balthazar. This was one thing about his fighting style that had always disturbed Merlin's apprentices; it seemed that the man was so confident that he felt no need to use his eyes to track his enemies during a fight. This was far from the truth. Gin closed his eyes to avoid illusions. His heart and mind, his senses could tell what was real and what was not. His eyes were usless.

The battle was difficult, the opponents matched; the sun was just beginning to creep over the hilltops when Balthazar finally pinned Gin to a decrepit stone wall of the church.

"It's over," he told Gin, and began to recite an incantation that would trap Gin into a hellish, nonexistent limbo that would last forever.

"First song, the halting fabric. Second song, a hundred linking bolts…"

"Please," Gin begged frantically, struggling against the three triangular beams of light pinning him to the wall, "Please, listen!"

"Final song…" Balthazar ignored him, chanting swiftly and under his breath. Gin's eyes darted about, and caught what he thought to be Veronica's sillohuette in the doorway.

"Beronika-senpai!" he pleaded.

"The great seal of ten thousand forbiddings! _Walls of iron sand, a priestly temple, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end!"_

Blackness reached out and drew Gin into its eternal darkness. His involvement in the universe had ended. An eternity of punishment began.

RETURN

"Yes, I am serious," Veronica replied to the stunned sorcerer one thousand five hundred years later, "I want to know the truth. Do you practice Morganian magic?"

It was not the right question, and Gin's expression told her so as he replied, "Yes."

Veronica nodded, accepting this as fact. Her eyes revealed the inner workings of her mind, shifting, weighing the information as she stared, for a moment, into nothingness. Then she asked, "Do you support Morgana?"

"Zenzen," Gin snapped resolutely, a metaphoric coral flame momentarily lighting his eyes, "Never."

"Then where do your allegiances lie?" Veronica finally questioned him.

Gin shrugged, comfortable enough with that response. "Myself," he responded. His smile made Balthazar only more agitated.

Someone has to stop him, he resolved, I don't care if he has developed some new species of sorcery. He's too dangerous to set free in this world.

#$(#

**Honto Ni:** (Japanese) Really?

**Gin wa koko de desu ka:** (Japanese, roughly) Is Gin here?

**Hai, Hora:** (Japanese) Yes, hey.

**Sumenai: **_(Japanese)_ A slurred way of saying "Sumimasen" which literally means "Unpardonable", and is used also to say "Excuse me" or "Sorry".

**Nani:** (Japanese) What

**Zenzen: **_(Japanese)_ Not at all.


End file.
